A wide variety of playyards, previously referred to as play pens, have been designed, developed and commercialized for many years. Such playyards have frequently been foldable, being of the knock-down type. These foldable playyards featured various types of frame assemblies with various types of locking and folding mechanisms including various types of floors and side panels.
Types of foldable playyards are described in the patent literature. Consider, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,437 to Dillner et al. According to that disclosure, an upper rectangular form cooperates with vertical corner rails and a lower support formed of a spider-like array of rails positionable in a horizontal plane. The lower support includes a central hub for raising the lower rails upwardly while collapsing the rails of the upper support downwardly to thereby collapse the playyard. In addition, a fabric assembly is included with four vertical side panels and a lower horizontal floor panel. The lower panel, however, is free floating being held in position solely by the vertical panels and a rigid removable floor.
In addition, two other U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,486,054 to Morse and 2,698,443 to Ralick, disclose foldable cribs with upper and lower rectangular supports. These two patents both feature independent side panels and a separate lower horizontal floor panel. In all instances, however, hinges of the frame are exposed for creating a safety hazard for a child within the crib or a parent raising or lowering the crib. Further, the replacing of damaged fabric panels is excessively difficult.
While the prior art generally, and the above referred to patents in particular, disclose various features in foldable playyards and cribs, none disclose the structure by which applicant's playyard may be readily assembled and disassembled by an operator. Further, none disclose a fabric floor and side walls, all of which are fully secured peripherally to the frame assembly for more safe, efficient, convenient and economical use.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a playyard for safe occupation by a child comprising in combination an essentially rectangular upper support formed of four pair of rods each centrally coupled by a hinge; an essentially rectangular lower support formed of four pair of rods each centrally coupled by a hinge; four vertical rails interconnecting the corners of the upper and lower supports to retain the upper and lower supports in a box-like configuration with the rods of the upper and lower supports pivotally coupled to the vertical rails to allow for pivoting the rods of the upper support and lower support between horizontal orientations when the playyard is in an unfolded condition for operation and use and vertical orientations when the playyard is in a folded condition for storage; a unitive fabric assembly comprising four vertically disposed panels each coupled between a pair of rods of the upper support and lower support and adjacent vertical tubes, the fabric assembly also including a lower horizontal panel stitched to the vertically disposed panels and coupled between the rods of the lower rectangular support, the lower edge of each vertically disposed panel extending downwardly and folded inwardly and then stitched to the lower horizontal panel; a support funnel depending downwardly from the midpoint of the horizontal fabric panel, the funnel being attached at its upper end to the underside of the horizontal fabric with its lower end being in contact with the floor for supporting the central portion of the playyard; and a removable floor peripherally positionable on the lower support for supporting a child when the playyard is deployed in the operative, unfolded orientation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved playyard wherein the frame is constructed of upper and lower horizontal frame portions and vertical legs which fully support a fabric floor and walls.
It is a further object of this invention to support a horizontal fabric floor and vertical fabric walls in an essentially box-like configuration by a plurality of rectangularly shaped frame sections.
It is a further object of this invention to fully enclose all hinges of a playyard by its fabric panels.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to more safely, efficiently, conveniently and economically fabricate and use foldable playyards.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.